03.29.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:56 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
beautiful, adorable Darden had surgery last week to fix ONE of his two necrotic hip joints. It was touch and go during the surgery and after. First, because of the narrowing of the leg bone (you can see it on the x-ray), the surgeon was unsure whether he could get the stem of the appliance into the bone. He said it was a total mess. In a normal dog, there would be the channel with soft bone marrow into which they place the stem, but in Darden’s case, the bone marrow was hardened which made it much more difficult to implant the appliance. In fact, Dr. Liska said had this been four years earlier, he probably couldn’t have done it.
But, he did get this one done. Here are Darden’s pre- and post-surgical x-rays.
Darden came home on Thursday but we had a lot of trouble with him. He wouldn’t stand at all to go to the bathroom. I was on the verge of checking him back into the hospital on Saturday, when he finally relented and went. WHEW!! We were carrying him outside every hour or two for two days to no avail.
Today, Sunday, he is happy and not reluctant to stand on his leg at all.
He will have surgery on his second leg on approx April 25, if we can raise the funds by then.
We were still very short on the fundraising for this leg so please help us get whole so we can schedule his second surgery. He needs and wants to be running!!
Each leg is estimated at $4500 plus or minus 10%. We were able to get Darden out of the hospital early so the first leg only cost $4000. But, to date, we’ve only raised around $1800. We desperately need the additional $2200, and we absolutely need the funds for the second leg before we schedule the surgery.
Please please let us help get this boy out of pain!
If you can donate, please use Paypal HERE or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE.
Thank you for whatever you can do!!
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03.22.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:55 pm by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
I was so hesitant to take in yet another dog right now, much less one that now needs two major surgeries. The Katy 34 has definitely taken it’s toll on our funds and our emotions.
This little boy was presented to us by his next door neighbor. He’s basically lived outdoors for the past year. He was purchased for the little boy who had no interest in having a dog, so outside he went. The neighbor had noticed that the little dog had been limping and wondered if he had been hit by car or suffered some sort of abusive kick.
As I said, we are so overwhelmed with dogs right now, we certainly didn’t need another one, but when I heard his story, I could absolutely not let him sit there in pain. I know you would not want him to suffer.
So, the neighbor convinced the owner to surrender him to us.
One of our volunteers picked him up and held him for a couple of days. A trip to the groomer was in order. This is what we found underneath all of the mats. This is one gorgeous little dog!!
When he got here, I took him to our vet for an x-ray, expecting to see a broken bone or luxated hip, like Weise had. What we saw was not even recognizable as a dog’s hip joint.
Here is a comparison of a good hip and Darden’s hip joints. Please click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see what we’re talking about.
Do you see how horribly “mangled” his hip joints are. Especially the right one. I don’t know if any of you have arthritis, but that is exactly what has happened to the necrotic bone.
As it turns out, Darden, a one-year old little boy, has a disease called Legg-Perthe disease. This is suspected to be a genetic disease that causes something to go wrong in the vascular system in the leg bones and the tops of the bones become necrotic. It’s not that common in Lhasas, but very common in poodles and yorkies.
Darden has a very, very severe case in his right leg – and is in severe, severe pain. The muscles in both of his legs have atrophied and he often does not put that leg down at all when walking.
He desperately needs surgery. In both legs. The best option is the total hip replacement, which is exactly what Weise got. The surgeon basically replaces the ball and socket in order to stablize the joint. This is the BEST option for Darden. But, because of the severity of the condition on the right leg, the surgeon is not even sure he can do a hip replacement – he may have to try an FHO, which is not an ideal solution for a long-bodied lhasa, but is better than the pain he is in now.
Although not a life or death emergency, we need to get this surgery scheduled THIS WEEK – this boy in in excruciating pain.
We can only do one leg at a time – we have to see how the surgery takes before we can proceed. The surgeon wants to do the worst leg first and the cost is estimated at $4500 plus or minus 10%. Please please let us help get this boy out of pain!
If you can donate, please use Paypal HERE or send a check HERE or use a credit card HERE.
Thank you for whatever you can do!!
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03.10.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:08 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Little Chon Wang Harris was a last minute save from a local shelter. He was on death row because of his heartworms and we now need to treat them. He is an adorable, friendly, loving little shih tzu and deserves a chance at life.
His treatment should cost around $350.
If you can help with his heartworm treatment bill, please CLICK HERE to contribute via paypal or HERE to tell me you’re sending a check. If you’d like to use a credit card, email me (teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com) and I’ll send you the form.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:03 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
This adorable little guy, Pocket, was the only non-shih tzu in the Katy breeder’s bunch. She was starting to breed shih tzu/poodle mixes, commonly called “shi-poos.” Amazingly, he has numerous health problems, including severe luxating patella and retained testicles. It’s sad that with all of these health problems, he was one of the “studs” creating more dogs with the same problems.
We won’t fix the patellas simply because at five pounds, he probably can deal with them with no major problems. But, we do need to get him neutered.
With diagnostics and surgery, his bill will total around $700. If you can help with his vet bills, please CLICK HERE to contribute via paypal or HERE to tell me you’re sending a check. If you’d like to use a credit card, email me (teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com) and I’ll send you the form.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:52 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
Toward the end of 2008, we took in this adorable little girl from one of the local shelters. Pei Pei was unbelievably thin – emaciated to an extreme and very “tired.” When she was diagnosed with heartworms, we weren’t sure she’d make it. She also had a suspicious tumor on her back and a small cherry eye.
We knew we had to fatten her up before she could have any procedures.
Her foster mom, Sherry, nurtured her for months – often feeding her by hand to make sure she ate. Slowly, she gained weight.
Once she was healthy, we did the cherry eye surgery and removed the tumor while she was getting spayed. She made it through. Now we are going to put the heartworm treatment on the schedule.
We need about $625to cover her expenses, including the heartworm treatment she needs. If you can help with her vet bills, please CLICK HERE to contribute via paypal or HERE to tell me you’re sending a check. If you’d like to use a credit card, email me (teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com) and I’ll send you the form.
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